Roadtripper sees 100 National Parks in first year of journey

Just before Christmas, 30-year-old Mikah Meyer completed the first year of a three-year continuous journey.

He has visited 100 of the nation’s 413 national parks, including all 14 sites in Massachusetts.

Meyer started on April 29, 2016, at the Washington Monument then traveled up the East Coast reaching Massachusetts in October.

He talked with the Concord Journal when he visited Minute Man National Historical Park, which is in Concord, Lexington and Lincoln. The park marks the location of the Battle of Concord on the morning of April 19,1775 — the first day of the American Revolutionary War.

Minute Man park also marks the locations of the skirmishes between the British Army and colonial militias as the Redcoats retreated back towards Boston that afternoon, as well as where Paul Revere was captured as he tried to warn the residents of Lexington and Concord that the British Army was on the way.

"What's special about this park is that so many battlefields are just fields or groves of trees. Here, there are still 11 houses that 'witnessed' the fight," he said, referring to the battle that started the American Revolution. "They are the original houses and the road still looks like it did, and you can retrace the actual steps of the battle."

He also visited Frederick Law Olmsted's old house in Brookline. Olmsted, who lived between 1822 and 1903, is recognized as the founder of American landscape architecture and the nation's foremost park maker.

Meyer talked with the Brookline Tab when he visited Olmsted’s house and the John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site in October.

"Some sites are the Grand Canyon and you want to spend days there and some are just literally a house, like the JFK site," he said at the time.

Meyer also made his way to Quincy to see the Adams National Historical Park, which includes the birthplaces of two presidents, three buildings and 13 acres that reflects the lifestyles and values of four generations of the Adams family.

"It's completely different to come to a place where the history is the founding of this country," Meyer said in an October interview with the Patriot Ledger. "It's incredibly different than what I grew up with in Nebraska.

For the past eight months, Meyer has been living out of his small van.

He embarked on the venture for several reasons including honoring his father, who died in 2005; to show Millennials the importance of enjoying natural beauty and history; as well as to break the stereotype that members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community aren't outdoorsy. Meyer is a gay and his boyfriend is accompanying on parts of the journey.

“Most people assume it's a ‘vacation’ but it's actually the hardest job I've ever had,” Meyer said in an email interview on Dec. 29. “Most of what gets shared about this journey are the beautiful vistas, spectacular sunsets, and interesting adventures. The goal is to show the splendors available in our national parks to help encourage people to get out and experience them — especially underrepresented groups like millennials, the LGBT community and racial/gender minorities.

Watch the video he made of his first 100 stops.

“But a lot of behind-the-scenes work goes into creating that content and reaching those audiences,” he continued. “Even as the world sees a ‘vacation,’ I spend most of my time planning logistics, pitching media, writing blogs, seeking sponsors and doing advocacy work. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of my time gets to actually be spent at the parks, and when I'm there I'm usually working to create content so I can share the park with those underrepresented communities.”

In addition to the Northeast, Meyer spent some of the year in the Midwest and the territories of the United States.

“I was incredibly impressed with Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota,” he wrote. “As a Nebraska native I realize people often make fun of the prairie and think it's boring, but this national park showcased all of the interesting geology that's underneath that boring prairie.

“I also overcame a lot of my fear of natural water by snorkeling at Buck Island Reef National Monument in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands,” he continued. “Getting to see what was underwater, in this case a stunning reef with hundreds of fish, made the experience of swimming and natural waters so much more fun and safe feeling.”

As Meyer prepares to start his second year of travel, he is planning to head to the south. On Dec. 29, 2016, Meyer said his plans are to go to South Carolina, Georgia and Florida then west across the south in order to go rafting in the Grand Canyon on June 1.

He plans to spend the summer in the Pacific Northwest and the fall in the mountains of Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.

“I've also been really touched by all the LGBT people who have reached out to me, particularly LGBT park rangers, who have told me thanks for helping share their untold stories and showcasing a group of people who are often not associated as outdoorsy,” Meyer wrote.

People can read Meyer's travel blog, called Travel Beyond Convention, and make donations by visiting www.tbcmikah.com.